Jean Chung' s photo of an Afghan woman with tuberculosis wins inaugural Stop TB Partnership award, sponsored by the Angkor Phototography Festival

© Jean Chung

One of the photos by Jean Chung, winner of the TB Partnership Photo Award.

SIEM REAP

INTERNATIONALLY renowned photographer Gary Knight announced the winner of the first Stop TB Partnership Award last night at the Angkor National Museum in Siem Reap, given in conjunction with the Angkor Photography Festival for outstanding photographs depicting a public health issue. 

This year's winner was South Korean Jean Chung, 38, who submitted photographs telling the story of an Afghan woman afflicted with tuberculosis who died from post-delivery complications.  

Chung, who received a Masters degree from the University of Missouri's School of Journalism in Columbia, has gained an international reputation for her documentary work, especially in Afghanistan.

Her previous works have focused on subjects including Afghan bodybuilders and sexual violence in the Congo.

High quality

In winning the Stop TB Partnership Award, Chung received US$5,000 in prize money and a $5,000 grant to take a portfolio of pictures depicting TB that will be part of an exhibition to open in Rio de Janeiro in March 2009.

The exhibition will then tour several cities worldwide, explained Vittorio Cammarota, Stop TB Partnership Secretariat for the World Health Organisation.  

It's probably the only photography festival in the

world that has a

humanitarian scope.

"We are very happy about the result of the award," said Cammarota.  "The quality of the submissions was absolutely excellent, and the jury members themselves complimented the quality of the portfolios."  

An international panel of eight judges, including Gary Knight, selected Chung's work from the 54 entries.

Chung has previously received awards in France, Japan and China, and has been featured in international publications, including Newsweek and The New York Times.   

"It is a coincidence that Jean's photo reportage is about a 26-year-old TB patient that died from post-delivery complications," said Cammarota.  "We also received photographs showing Aids, leprosy and other diseases." 

The purpose of the award is to raise awareness of tuberculosis and to push for increased donations.  

"The problem with TB is that in most of the high-income countries, it's considered a disease of the past that has been defeated, which is not true.  We have nearly 5,000 people die every day from TB in the world," Cammarota said.  

"This is why we are engaging with new tools such as photography.  We strongly believe in the power of images to disseminate messages."  

Cammarota said the reason that the World Health Organisation partnered with the Angkor Photography Festival in presenting this award is because "it's probably the only photography festival in the world that has a humanitarian scope," said Cammarota.  "Without them, this couldn't have happened."